One of the beautiful things about football is with playing only one game per week, the anticipation building up to each game can be spine-tingling. And then, once the battle is over, we can spend the next several days breaking down what happened on the gridiron before turning our attention to the next challenge.
In this case, the build-up to Tino Sunseri's first pro start at quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders Sunday in Hamilton was all of that. While some had written off the Riders' chances due to the elbow injury to starter Darian Durant, just as many were content to wait and see what Sunseri would bring against the Ticats before rushing to judgment.
Unfortunately, it was one of the worst offensive showings of the season as the Riders were trounced 28-3 and saw their seven-game winning streak come to a halt. Sunseri was sacked five times while throwing for only 88 yards and was intercepted once. Tino's counterpart, and long-time nemesis we're told, Ticats quarterback Zach Collaros, had a sterling day throwing for 287 yards, two touchdowns and was the team's leading rusher.
In the immediate aftermath of the loss, things were quiet. Still no one with the team was willing to write off the season after just one game, but everyone stopped to take a good, long look in the mirror. While Sunseri wasn't the second coming of Joe Montana, this loss was hardly hung on him.
We mentioned the pass protection issues, but the defence allowed the Ticats to roll up over 400 yards offense and the punt cover team allowed another return touchdown.
All in all, as one CFL alumnus wrote me after the game, "it was a bad day at the office."
Can this be forgiven? I think so. The Riders hadn't lost in two months! That fact isn't lost on Rider head coach Corey Chamblin.
"When you've been winning so long, eventually you have to come down,'' Chamblin told reporters after the game. "It's part of football. There have been lots of games we won but we could have lost. This one, there was a chance when we were down by just 10 points (at the end of the half), but we lost. It's not stunning. It's a part of football.''
With the loss, the Riders dropped to 8-3 and into a second-place tie with Edmonton in the CFL West. Meanwhile Hamilton moved into a three-way tie for first in the East at 3-7. Weird, but the Ticats finally looked like the team that won the East division last year.
And so the Rider winning streak is over and now they hope to jumpstart another one when the Ottawa RedBlacks come to town Sunday for a 2 p.m. kickoff. If this team's going to challenge for first place, a home playoff game, or heck, even a playoff spot, it appears it's going to be up to Tino Sunseri to get them there for the foreseeable future.
He'll have to improve on what he showed at Tim Hortons Field.
"It was the first game for Tino," Chamblin shrugged. "There were some jitters. I don't think Darian was perfect in his first game. That's just the way it goes."
As a matter of fact Durant was 22/32 for 339 yards and two touchdowns in a 33-28 win at Hamilton in 2008 in his first pro start. But that's apples and oranges, really.
In the final analysis, I think Sunseri will be just fine, but everyone around him will need to elevate their game from the flat showing in Steeltown. Sunseri will also have to ignite the spark that Durant usually does because the Riders looked lifeless in Week 12. It wasn't the Roughrider team we've come to know.
"I always put as much pressure on myself as I possibly can," Sunseri said after Sunday's game. "I hold myself to a very, very, very high standard. Obviously I expect to play lights-out and lead our team to victory and when that doesn't happen, it's not up to my standard."
This is far from over.
- For daily Rider news follow Rod on Twitter at @sportscage.
